Anthony Horowitz was miserable as child. He was, as he put it, “not very bright” and couldn’t win the attention of his very wealthy parents, who preferred his “clever” older brother. At age 8, Horowitz was sent away to an abusive boarding school in his native England, even though he screamed and pleaded(恳求) with his parents year after year not to send him. “The thought was, It’ll be good for him,” he recalled.

It was not. Horowitz did badly in his studies, had few friends and was bullied (欺负) for five years. “My teachers couldn't have had a lower opinion of me,” he said. “I wasn't even smart enough to rebel . The one thing I remember from the very earliest age was this desire to write. When I was 10 years old, I remember asking my parents to get me a typewriter for my birthday because I wanted to be a writer.”

Now, at age of 55, Horowitz is one of the world's most successful children's book authors. His Alex Rider series has sold more than 5 million copies, and the eighth book featuring the young spy, Crocodile Tears, came out this month.

The Alex Rider books tell the adventures of 14-year-old Alex Rider, an agent for the British intelligence agency M16.

Horowitz said he doesn't try to write for kids; it just comes out that way. “I have a feeling it's to do with purity and simplicity. I give as little information as is necessary to describe the room, the character in the room, and get on with the action,” he said.

The style has also made Horowitz a successful writer of television shows for adults in Britain because, he says, writing books for kids is a lot like writing television for grown-ups: In both cases, it's all about entertaining people with a good story.

Now, Horowitz couldn't be happier with his life. He sums up his success: “…you can be anything you want to be if you just believe in yourself. I do believe it completely.”

In the boarding school, Horowitz’s teachers           .

    A.often criticized him B.showed great concern for him

    C.taught him how to write stories  D.thought little about his ability

Which of the following is true of Anthony Horowitz?

    A.He was the beloved child of his family.

    B.He benefited a lot from boarding school.

    C.He emphasizes the plot rather than character in stories.

    D.Although he is successful, he isn’t very happy.

What advice does Horowitz have for readers?

    A.Confidence is the key to success.    B.Hardship teaches valuable lessons.

    C.Interest is the best teacher.    D.Industry is the parent of success.

In which section can you most probably read the passage?

    A.Campus Trends        B.Culture & Leisure

    C.Our World        D.Science Life

On the first day of class, Mr. Whiteson gave us a lecture about a creature(生物) called cattytiger, a kind of cat-like animal that completely disappeared during the Ice Age. He passed round a skull (头骨) as he talked, and we all felt interested and took notes while listening. Later, we had a test about that.

When he returned my paper, I was very, very surprised. There was a very large cross through each of my answers. And so it was with everyone else's in our class.

What had happened? Everyone was wondering and couldn't wait to get the answer.

Very simple, Mr. Whiteson explained. He had made up all that story about the cattytiger. There had never been such an animal. So why none of us noticed that and how could we expect good marks for the incorrect answers?

Needless to say, we got very angry. What kind of teacher was this?

We should have guessed it out, Mr. Whiteson said. After all, at the very moment he was passing around the cattytiger skull (in fact, a cat's), hadn't he been telling us that it completely disappeared during the Ice Age? Clearly he was telling a lie. But we just kept busy making notes and none used his head. We should learn something from this. Teachers and textbooks are not always correct.

1.We failed in the test because we didn't ______.

A. take notes while listening

B. show interest in what Mr. Whiteson said

C. listen to the teacher carefully

D. think carefully

2.We got angry because ______.

A. Mr. Whiteson didn't tell us the truth about cattytiger

B. we failed in the test

C. we didn't know why he played the joke on us

D. there was no cattytiger

3.We didn't find out it was a lie for ______.

A. we simply believed our teacher very much

B. we took notes carelessly

C. we hadn't watched the skull carefully enough

D. Mr. Whiteson spoke too fast

4.Mr. Whiteson meant that ______.

A. teachers couldn't make any mistakes

B. textbooks might be wrong sometimes

C. we should speak up if we thought our teacher or the textbook was wrong

D. we shouldn't believe our teachers because sometimes they might tell lies

 

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